OPINION

CHESTER STORTHZ: Vote no on Issue 1

Culpable must be held accountable

Her name was Norma Jean, the same as Marilyn Monroe's original. But this Norma Jean (known as Jeanie) was named after her father, Norman. Like her father, she was bright. Like the other Norma Jean, she was funny and alluring. The second most beautiful woman in her family, she was my sister-in-law.

Jeanie awoke on a morning in September 2014 in Dallas with terribly compromised vision, unable to distinguish all but the largest shapes. According to Jeanie, she called 911 for an ambulance, and when it arrived she asked to be taken to Baylor Medical Center. She was taken to another facility for reasons that are unclear. Perhaps because it was closer, perhaps Baylor was too busy, perhaps there was a relationship between the ambulance service and the facility. I don't know.

After four days of examinations by a variety of specialists--with the exception of an ophthalmologist--Jeanie was sent home without recovering her sight. An immediate visit to an ophthalmologist resulted in an enraged physician saying her sight could have been saved if proper action had been taken immediately.

That's right: Though the hospital said nothing could be done to save her sight, an eye specialist disagreed.

Jeanie was blind for the rest of her life. While she was fortunate enough to be able to afford excellent care, the side effects of serious depression stole all of the joy that once resided in such a beautiful person. A broken heart was not listed as the official cause of death, but I am certainly not convinced. After losing her sight, her remaining time was joyless, filled with tears and depression.

I felt a lawsuit was the proper response to the facility. Though Jeanie did not need the money for care, I hoped that a lawsuit would force improved process and procedures in the hospital. Any damage awards could go to research or a school for the blind. But the primary issue was to try to make certain that history was not repeated.

I had trouble finding an attorney in Dallas because punitive damages are limited to $250,000, which for the facilities and insurance companies was just the cost of doing business. Sloppy business, but business, nonetheless.

So in Texas, eyes are worth $250,000. Legs, hands, brain ... all the same. And now there's a vote in Arkansas to limit punitive damages to $500,000.

Same philosophy, higher limit. There may be some who would sell their eyes or hands or legs for $500,000 (less attorney fees), but I have yet to meet them.

The only way to minimize these incidents is to fiscally punish those that engage in sloppy procedures. Make the institutions prevent the preventable.

And while Jeanie's story is one of health care (or lack thereof), Issue 1 would also limit punitive awards for the death or maiming by impaired drivers or shoddy workmanship (remember the Ford Pinto).

This Arkansas issue has revolved mostly around the punitive damage awarded over preventable death. It seems much easier to value a life than to place value on loss of sight, mobility, paralysis, or other indignations. But in this case, the sum of the parts does seem to exceed that of the whole. Punitive awards cannot cure blindness, paralysis, brain damage. They can only serve to make the careless more careful, the cavalier less arrogant.

Yes, there are arguments on the other side. But perhaps large awards in the most egregious cases could be partially dedicated to charity or nonprofit research. And that percentage could not be considered for attorney fees. Or perhaps providers would be subject to greater awards after multiple findings against them. An upward sliding scale of sorts.

Limiting damages will not improve the care or the safety of our citizens. It will not eliminate the sloppy. It will not eliminate the shoddy. It will not eliminate the negligent or the impaired. And while it may not discourage sloppy, shoddy, negligent, exhausted, or impaired, it very well may encourage minimal background checks and fewer quality-control mechanisms.

The culpable must be held accountable. Voters, too. If Issue 1 passes, we'll get the health care we deserve. It's enough to make you sick.

I wish Jeanie's last years had been better. I wish she could have seen a movie, watched her grandchildren, visited the Dallas Museum of Art once more. The things we can do with our eyes are remarkable. So are the things we can do with our vote.

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Chester Storthz of Little Rock works in advertising.

Editorial on 10/15/2018

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